Saturday - Nuremberg part 2

After the tour we were dropped off in the city center where the Christmas market is held.  Today being a Saturday, the day before the 1st Sunday of advent and the first weekend the market was open meant that we were in for some huge crowds.  As Jackie said at one point, yes, there are a lot of people, but everyone has a smile on their face and there's an air of goodwill.  We had a wonderful time shopping and chatting with the proprietors.  So many people speak English that it was never really difficult to communicate.  Seriously, we Americans have to get better at other languages.  Makes me feel bad that when these folks come to see us, we can't provide the same welcome and understanding.  

Anyway, first the food....starting with Jackie's first cup of gluhwein...can you tell she wasn't sure she liked it?  It is a mulled wine.  We were told the flavor came mostly from the fruit and the wine wasn't that strong, but both of us beg to differ.  All I could smell was the alcohol!  The Germans are very ecologically minded, so when you purchase your wine you pay 2.50 for the wine and 2.50 for the cup. If you bring the cup back you get 2.50 back.  If you choose to keep it its is yours.  No paper cups are used.  The sad thing was that Javkie thought the mug was so cute she planned to keep it, until she dropped the bag it was in and it broke in two.  She was very sad, but talked herself out of getting another cup as she's been getting rid of mugs at home.  Very sensible....we'll see if she ends up picking another one up along the way.

Other food included the Nuremberg sausages which are sold on a bun with three sausages and either catsup or mustard.  We did not get a sandwich today because there was a dinner at the hotel tonight that included some very tasty sausages, much better than the ones we had in Munich.

We had 4.5 hours to wander the market.  That early snow turned to a very cold rain, so we walked around for an hour and then sought warmth in a local crepe shop.  It allowed us time to warm up and for our coats to dry out a bit which was very nice.  We also enjoyed a savory crepe, followed by a Nutella and banana dessert crepe!  Yummy.  Then it was back to the market.  Here are a few photos of the stalls

It is magical!  There's a good chance even I could get into the Christmas spirit from this experience!

We also got a delicious hot cocoa, again in an effort to warm up and have a chance to sit down.  No luck on the sitting down, but we were in a warm place at least for a little while.

Here are a couple of pictures around the town

This is the best representation of the crowd we could get....

So ends the day.  Lovely dinner tonight that included an apple streusel that was simply the best ever and great company from some of our traveling companions.  Early start tomorrow, so signing off for now.

Saturday - Nuremberg part 1

The day started Early with a 6:30 wake up call.  Luggage needed to be outside our door by 7:15 and we needed to have breakfast and be at the bus at 8:15.

The drive to Nuremberg took a little over two hours.  The weather started like this

But quickly turned into this

Definitely not condusive to taking photos from the bus.  

Our tour included the Nazi party rally grounds, a huge site with monumental buildings where the Nazi party rallies were held and Hitler's troops had their parades. The never finished Congress Hall, known as Colosseum of Nuremberg, was meant to be the focal point at a planned size of 1,5 times the size of Rome's Colosseum, nowadays it houses the documentation center, where you can see many pictures of Nuremberg in the time of Nazis.  No photos of that due to weather.

Then it was off to Zeppelin field where propaganda rallies were held.  The field held 150,000 soldiers and the stands held several hundred thousand spectators.

From there we went to the Hall of Justice where th Nuremberg trials were held

From there we took a drive around the medieval city founded in the 1100's complete with a double wall, portions of which still stand, including four entry gates and several round towers.  It was so difficult to get pictures in the snow, so nothing much to share on those.

Next post...the Christmas market.

Linderhof....into the Alps

We got back on the bus at 11:45 and headed north to Linderhoff and Oberammergau. Not long after we got on the motorway we saw snow!!!  It was a beautiful drive up with snow covered trees and fields.  Unfortunately you don't always get the best pictures from the inside of a bus, but at least you can get a sense of it.  

Our first stop was the Linderhoff palace of mad King Ludwig II.  He was not much for politics or wars, but he loved music and art and building palaces.  This is the only palace he finished in his lifetime and he spent the last 8 years of his life as a recluse here.  It's is a small palace and he lived solely on the second floor with just 7 servants.  His dining room table was set in the servants quarters and they a pulley system was used to bring the table to the second floor, so that he didn't have to see his servants.  It was beautiful and heavily ornate inside, but no photography was allowed.  The king was influenced by Louis XV and Versailles.  The upper floor consists of a music room, a small audience chamber, the dining a room, Kings bedroom with a huge bed (he was 6'2" and so the bed was made specially for him), and a dressing room.  With the exception of the bedroom, the rooms were all quite small.

To get to the palace was a 10 minute walk on a snow lined path.  I was so afraid of falling, but managed to stay upright.  

The road to the palace

The walk to the palace

The palace itself

The front door

The garden, which is supposed to be beautiful in the summer

From there it was time to walk back, do a little souvenir shopping and then hop on the bus for a trip to Oberammergau, where the town puts on a passion play every 10 years from May to October.  It's a town of 5,000 and over half a million people come to see the play from all over the world. It will next be done in 2020.

For today it was just an opportunity to see the theater and walk around the town (and do some shopping, of course).  There is a tradition of doing paintings on the outside of homes in Bavaria, and we got to see a special one, Pilate's house

The town was lovely, especially with the snow on the ground

That is all for the day.  By the time we got back it was 6:45.  We grabbed a sandwich at subway and headed to our room.  We have to have our bags outside the door at 7:15, then it's breakfast and departure of Nuremberg at 8:15.  More fun ahead!

Friday - Munich

We started the day with a delicious full breakfast here at the hotel, then it was to the bus for a tour around the city.  Our local guide provided a wealth of information (most of which I can't remember....).

After the drive around town and out to the Nyphenburg palace it was off to the city center, the Marianplatz and the Christmas market. We managed to be there at 11 to listen to the ringing of the bells, the see the glockenspiel clock.  

I'll post this and do a separate post for our trip into the alps.